Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Anayo Okorocha, has once again proven himself to be a practical and result-oriented leader by his thoughtful decision to wade into the long-running ezeship tussles in the various autonomous communities in the state. It is common knowledge that before this time, our autonomous communities were reduced to battle grounds by powerful individuals who desired the ezeship stools by fair or foul means. As a result of that unhealthy situation, the peace, unity and development of the affected autonomous communities were swept off the ground by cross-litigation, factionalisation and mud-slinging by the parties to the disputes.
It is noteworthy that this unsavoury state of affairs has dealt a heavy blow on the self-help development spirit of our people by wasting their resources which would have been vital for development on the tussles.
The implication of this sorry situation is that our village heads, kingmakers and other traditional authorities have either lost a sense of direction or compromised themselves for pecuniary gains. This feeling is based on the fact that the process of selecting an Eze is duly provided in the constitution of every community, hence, the issue of who should be a traditional ruler need not to be a problem in any community if the village heads and kingmakers are men of honour and integrity who can always say, defend and insist on the truth.
Weighty as the ezeship tussles in Imo state was, it is regrettable that preceding governments in the state did not see the need to apply some stringent and pragmatic measures in resolving them instead of the once-in-a-while lip service such as setting up panel of inquiry for any community with explosive intra-community strife. The reports of such panels were never seen neither were they ever implemented.
It is against this backdrop that the ongoing intervention of Governor Okorocha in the ezeship tussles is eliciting public acclamation. This public ovation is hinged on the fact that the state cannot be considered peaceful and stable when many of her autonomous communities are engulfed in varying degrees of ezeship disputes. In other words, for the governor to have a peaceful state to govern, he must achieve peaceful autonomous communities. It is sensible to argue that if 30 per cent of our autonomous communities are bedeviled by insecurity induced by ezeship tussles; it can be statistically correct to contend that about 30 per cent of Imo people are living under life-threatening conditions. Of course, no reasonable government can tolerate such a situation. This is the reason the intervention of the governor is being hailed by Imo people as a step in the right direction.
The action of the govenor has further proven that he knows where the shoe is pinching the people. That he decided to handle it himself conveys in unmistakable terms the importance he attaches to the exercise. More exciting are the issues which he considers before deciding who merits the throne. The issues are as follows: (1) Who the tradition of the community favours (2) The agitation which the constitution of the community upholds. By putting the above fundamental frameworks into perspective in drawing his conclusions, the governor has left no one in doubt about his fairness and objectively in the matter.
It is an obvious fact that most of the ezeship tussles in our communities arise due to the flagrant abuse, violation or neglect of the tradition and constitution of the autonomous communities.
It must be noted that one of the reasons which probably made past state administrations reluctant in being directly involved in the settlement of ezeship tussles was the fear of being misunderstood. For Governor Okorocha, it does not matter – what matters is the end result. He therefore deserves our kudos for his courageous decision to tackle the problem headlong irrespective of the insinuation the action will generate.
This mindset seems to agree with the views of British political scientist, Harold Stephenson, when he said: “Great are the leaders who are undeterred by the distractions and encumbrances on their way because they are strongly convinced that accomplishing their mission will give humanity a leap forward.”
Governor Okorocha has given a broad indication of how far he can go to make Imo State better, so far as he has given many reasons in practical terms why we should see him as a governor on whom we are well pleased. Bravo, Your Excellency; No Shaking!
Okeke is Director of Information, Government House, Owerri. Photo shows Governor Okorocha
